2020 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Conference GLIA IN HEALTH & DISEASE Abstract The proposed meeting on Glia in Health & Disease will be held at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory from July 16 ? 20, 2020. The goal of this conference is to provide an active forum for exchange of results in the rapidly advancing fields of glial biology and neuron-glia interactions. Glial cells comprise a diverse group of non-neuronal cells that are essential for nervous system development, circuit function, and neurological disease. These cells perform many important roles, such as controlling extracellular ion and neurotransmitter levels, providing neurons with energy sources, ensheathing axons to enable rapid transmission of action potentials with minimal metabolic cost, and phagocytosing debris. The development of advanced genetic tools is beginning to define the molecular events that establish and maintain these crucial interactions, providing new targets for therapeutic manipulation. In addition, recent studies demonstrate that glial cells play a much more active role in modulating the function of neural circuits; glial cells release signals that regulate neural firing, synaptic plasticity, and behavior, and express receptors for neurotransmitters. Glia also respond to CNS injury and disease by forming glial scars, engulfing dying neurons and synapses, and regenerating lost cells. However, these reactive changes can compromise the ability of glia to adequately support neurons, or in some cases promote further destruction. The mechanisms that control these changes and the consequences of their altered behavior in disease and injury are just beginning to be defined. It has become clear that many gene mutations linked to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are also expressed in glia, and genetic manipulation studies are beginning to reveal how these mutations alter glial cell function and contribute to disease. This meeting will highlight the latest developments obtained through studies of invertebrate and vertebrate model systems, as well as human brain organoids, and provide exposure to technological advances in genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, and high-resolution imaging. Using the goals and format of the seven prior extremely successful meetings as a guide, we plan to: 1) assemble an international meeting of scientists engaged in studies of glial biology and neuron-glia interactions; 2) discuss new and exciting developments in the field by selecting talks from openly submitted abstracts on the basis of scientific merit; 3) provide an opportunity for junior scientists of diverse backgrounds to present their data and engage in scientific discourse with more established investigators; and 4) promote collaborative interactions to accelerate the pace of discovery and identify novel approaches to treat diseases of the nervous system.